Chapter 1030 - Conspiracy and Unease
Chapter 1030 Conspiracy and Unease
Kerslin Castle. The lowest level of a well-guarded arcane hall.
A massive ball of light a hundred meters in diameter floated in the center of the hall, maintaining a tight connection to the thousands of mysterious arrays around it through countless beautiful silver light ribbons.
The light ribbons were not pure energy streams. If anyone were fortunate enough to be able to capture a strip of the light and magnify it tens of thousands of times, they would find that the so-called light ribbons were actually a stream consisting of innumerable tiny and interconnected runes.
Every tiny spark was a miniature runic light array.
There were thousands of these light ribbons, each of them shining with countless tiny sparks. These ribbons were entangled and connected, forming an even larger and more complex system of runic light arrays.
A pair of strange and indifferent eyes silently observed the operation of the entire runic array system from within the ball of light. The frail and lean body of an old, bald adept floated behind the ball of light.
While the entire array system ran in a perfect and self-consistent manner, a beam of radiant light penetrated the countless stone walls surrounding it. The light passed by the hundreds and thousands of defensive arrays and pierced into the head of the sleeping old man within.
Sanazar wasn’t in a hurry to answer. Instead, she stared at Gallow coldly and responded with her own question, “How much you know about it?”
Gallow smiled, flashing his teeth. “I don’t know much, but it’s more than enough.”
Sanazar laughed coldly, “You are Lady Kerala’s most hopeful subordinate for Fourth Grade advancement. Wouldn’t she make sure to look out for you?”
The smile on Gallow’s face became even more ‘brilliant.’
“Her Ladyship has indeed looked out for me, but…”
“Was Lady Kerala’s care not to your liking?”
“Hmph.”
Sanazar turned and looked at Dante, but he also hastily waved his hands and said, “Don’t look at me. I’ve been strictly warned as well.”
Sanazar nodded her head in understanding and said in a dejected tone, “It seems like the information the three of us have obtained matches. The winner of this tournament has been inofficially decided. It has to be Greem!”
“Mm!” A bitter smile appeared on Adept Dante’s blurry face, “I have also been warned. I can do whatever I want if I’m fighting the two of you, but I have to lose if I run into that Greem!”
“The ‘care’ I received is similar to that!” Gallow also chimed in with resentment and anger on his face.
“That brat has just offended Lord Declan. There is no way that the Association will turn around and support him all of a sudden. Therefore, I suspect that the Association is intentionally helping Greem become a Fourth Grade Association Adept as quickly as possible! Do the two of you have any insider information to share with regards to this?” Sanazar stared at her two ‘companions.’
Dante shrugged and put on an expression like he knew absolutely nothing.
Only Gallow lowered his head in silence, as if he was thinking about something.
After a long while, he finally raised his scary scarface that had been torn apart and stitched together. He spoke in a soft voice, “The Association is facing some trouble currently. The Great Adepts of the realms beyond have requested that all of the major forces choose a Fourth Grade to go on a mission. I’ve heard that it is fairly dangerous.”
“Then it’s pretty obvious what their intent is. This tournament is a trap. What the Association wishes to give away isn’t the origin substance, but the identity of an Association adept. The four of us have already reached peak Third Grade. It doesn’t matter which of us gets the origin substance. It will allow us to have an incredibly high chance of advancing to Fourth Grade and maybe master some powers of principles ahead of time.” At this point, even the typically calm and collected Sanazar started sounding frustrated.
“Perhaps we can try to fight for it? After all, a mission assigned from the realms beyond might be dangerous, but it not mean certain death! Moreover,” Adept Dante’s voice suddenly fell softer, “when it comes to talent and potential, both of you are superior to me. Your chance of advancing to Fourth Grade is also higher than mine.”
“What does potential and talent count for?” Scarface Gallow spoke out coldly, “When has there ever been an advancement that hasn’t been a struggle of life and death!? Were the current Fourth Grades of the Association all the most potent Third Grades of their time before their advancements? Hmph! There will always be a limit to individual effort! What truly determines our fate is damned luck!”
The three adepts couldn’t help but fall silent in dejection at this point in the conversation.
If they were to walk out of their towers, every one of them would still be prodigies envied by the entire world. However, they knew their own conditions and situations the best. Their past glory meant nothing for their advancement towards Fourth Grade. No one among the three of them had more than fifty percent chance of successfully advancing.
Advancement was a gamble!
Win, and they would naturally jump to the next level, becoming top-tier adepts in the World of Adepts no longer constrained or limited by any force or individual. However, if they lost the gamble? There were far too many losers who simply retreated in low-spirits, forever caught in their setback, and being reduced to an irrelevant character in the world.
Just flip through the historical chronicles of Zhentarim! Where were all the prodigies and geniuses that had popped up throughout the years now? In the end, these fourteen winners were the only ones who would be remembered by history!
Perhaps this was the deep darkness hiding behind the brilliant halo of glory that belonged to the adepts.
“I don’t care what you two think. Either way, I will be fighting for that origin substance!” Scarface Gallow smiled viciously and left promptly after leaving behind this one last statement.
Adept Dante sighed once again, but could only say his farewells and leave with a heavy heart.